Sravani Labala

Actually, I am not a bookworm but, as part of my assessment my English tutor directed me to write a book review so, I started to hit the book namely " A Tiger for Malgudi". It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg ; just 176 Indian rupees. One of the best novelists in India that is R.K. Narayan, who has written many Malgudi novels earlier also, has written a “A Tiger for Malgudi” , which is a haunting tale with the comic vision that captures everyone’s heart to it. Everyone will enjoy the very simplicity of this compelling fable. As the name indicates the main character is Raja - 'The Magnificent' ( tiger ), which revolves around the story of him living as a free animal in the jungle, to then being captured by a circus owner , and the travails that followed. There are a lot of characters like Captain ( who runs the circus ) , Madan ( film director ) , Alphonse ( gun man ) ,Head master and staff ,Local people; and some other animals like goat, monkey , elephant , horse etc. Each has their specific humorous part in the tale. The Tiger's adventures begin in the forest as the average life of a predator but things take a dramatic turn when it comes in contact with human beings. The tale takes a diversionary twist where instead of turning into a man-eater the Tiger turns meek in nature. The highlight of the tale is when the tiger and a goat sharing a bowl of milk symbolizing a peaceful co-existence between the two. And one more part which interests is how it met it's tigress. The most humorous bit exists between Alphonse and 'Sadhu' conversation Some of the dialogues which captured my eyes are "violence cannot be everlasting. Sooner or later it has to go, if not through wisdom, definitely through decrepitude, which comes on with years, whether one wants it or not." and "all causes of rivalry and clash are senseless and so need no defining or explanation ... Don’t ever fight. No cause is worth a clash." The author is trying to convey that deep within, the core of personality is the same in spite of differing in appearances and categories, and with the right approach you could expect the same response from a tiger as from any human being. The lesson that I have learned from the book is " even the wild in nature can be brought into peace through certain actions"-it is applicable to human beings also , that is if a person who is savage in nature can be changed to gentle in nature through our acts as if we were like a mirror image to them, whatever actions we do will reflect us back… It is really a good book to read and gives a message through actions of the characters and through the situations. For every scene, there is a twist, if you think you got the climax, then go ahead and read; you will get to know the climax you thought wouldn't match with the story.... Every situation changes as well as your thoughts will also change.. You can see the dramatic characters running in your mind while you read the book.. yes, it's a page turner ... It is recommended to all age groups and it's my advice to you to read this book.